Spain vows to expel African immigrants

Spain says it will immediately deport immigrants from Sub-Saharan Africa who crash through the frontier into Spanish enclaves in Morocco, after yet another nocturnal assault by Africans massed on Morocco's border with Melilla.

In the sixth human avalanche in a week, 1000 would-be immigrants stormed the parallel razor-wire fences at several points, but were repulsed by a huge security operation mounted on both sides.

Hundreds of determined young men have poured into Melilla, vaulting the 6m-spiked fence with ladders of branches cut from the pine forests where they had been living rough.

Spanish and Moroccan military jeeps patrolled Melilla's 6km barrier through the night.

Spain's deputy Prime Minister, Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, said during her visit to Melilla and Ceuta: "Under exceptional measures, illegal immigrants will be returned to Morocco. Citizens of Ceuta and Melilla, and Spain in general, must be assured that this Government guarantees the security of our borders."

The expulsion order was greeted with dismay by human rights organisations and refugee groups who met Fernandez de la Vega in Melilla.

"We completely disagree with mass expulsions. They amount to a death sentence," Jose Alonso, Secretary of Melilla's Human Rights Association, said.

More than 1500 people are crammed into Melilla's immigrant holding centre on the dusty outskirts of the town centre. A field of campaign tents accommodate those who cannot fit inside.

The euphoria of those who had finally reached Europe after tramping across Africa for months or years turned to fear at the prospect of being turned away.

"We are very afraid of being sent back," said Augustin, 20, a farmworker from Mali, whose odyssey to Melilla had taken two years.

"I've suffered so much to get here, I prefer death to expulsion," he said.

Fernandez de la Vega described Spain's crackdown as the reactivation of a 1992 agreement with Rabat, in which Morocco agreed to re-admit African refugees who had passed through en route to Spain.

Until now, Spain allowed incomers with no passport, or from countries where Madrid had no repatriation agreement, to stay.

Morocco has long complained of insufficient resources. The EU has finally released a long-promised 40 million ($69.6 million) to help Morocco combat illegal immigration.

Morocco wants an EU "Marshall Plan" for Sub-Saharan Africa to combat the poverty and despair that drives thousands north.

Spain's Interior Minister, Jose Antonio Alonso said the first group of 70 illegal immigrants were to be expelled from Spain immediately.

Spain plans to make further reinforcements to the border of its two ancient territories in North Africa, replacing the razor wire fences with a high-tech "three dimensional" barrier.

- INDEPENDENT